


when the clock strikes midnight

by tarantism



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Birthday Party, Coffee Shops, Costumes, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 07:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17157524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tarantism/pseuds/tarantism
Summary: in which minghao gets his costume last-minute, and a certain stranger he meets at a party distracts him from his school work.





	when the clock strikes midnight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littleladysugar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleladysugar/gifts).



> for: laina, and rhhb. merry christmas and happy holidays! 
> 
> and to everyone reading, i hope you have a spectacular 2019 coming your way.
> 
> this is extremely unbeta’d so any mistakes are due to my own foolishness, but i hope you enjoy nonetheless!
> 
> listen to the [when the clock strikes midnight playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/aeymbooycz2ob7ky7sdqda4h3/playlist/7meyM2hXQFsS8BUPCum29k?si=gEmkKxe8QEex7WgKZnRs2Q) on spotify.

 “Come _on,_ Minghao. It will be fun! Who doesn’t love a good bit of dressing up?” 

Oh, how he wished he hadn’t picked up that phone call from his best friend at 2am that Tuesday evening, the voice down the end screaming into Minghao’s ears as he screwed up his face and slumped down onto his desk in his dorm. The cold wood of the desk almost burns his right cheek as his left ear burns against the phone with the lingering yells rattling his eardrums.

“It’s not even Halloween, Soonyoung! It’s April.” He responds with a sigh, rubbing his hand slowly over his face as he sits back up, eyes struggling and failing to focus on the lecture notes in front of him. He wasn’t making any progress with his revision at this late hour considering he was half asleep and had the loudest voice on Earth distracting him from anything he was supposed to be doing. But even without those two factors, Minghao hates psychology too much to really give a damn. “Who throws a costume party so close to exam season?”

“Uh, someone whose birthday is in April and isn’t boring like everyone else is? When was the last time you went to a party that wasn’t just casual wear?”

Minghao gets up and immediately slumps down onto his bed in the almost-pitch black of his room, the only light from his desk lamp and the screen of his phone. Maybe, he thinks, he can tell Soonyoung he’s not feeling well, or that he has tons of work to do (which he does and isn’t a complete lie), or that he just really doesn’t feel like going to a party next week.

“I don’t even know the guy,” he starts, knowing before the sentence even ends that this is never going to end well when Soonyoung is involved. The guy is like a party magnet, and he doesn’t know how the boy has the energy to go to socials every week of the academic year. His blood must be pure _Jäger_ and _Red Bull_ at this point, Minghao concludes right as Soonyoung decides to cut him off.

“So what? I’m inviting you as my plus one and that’s all that matters.”

“And how many other people have you invited to this poor guy’s event?”

“Just a few…” And by that, Minghao knows he means a couple of dozen. “That’s not the point! You need this! You haven’t been out to a party in months! Think of all the drinks and all the people to get with!”

It’s nearing 2:30 and Minghao has to be up for a 9am he’s barely prepped for in the morning, which can mean only one thing. He grits his teeth, knowing the only way he’s ever going to get Soonyoung to stop bothering him is to just agree to this stupid party and hopefully get out of it ten minutes after they’ve arrived.

He’s zoning out whatever Soonyoung is saying in the background now as Minghao stops his chattering with a babbling mixture of _shut up_ s and _be quiet_ s. The silence for those five seconds is bliss and Minghao pinches the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. 

“Fine. If it makes you happy I’ll go to this stupid costume party.”

“It does, it makes me so very happy!” His best friend practically sings, and the boy can picture him jumping up and down on his bed, blue hair bouncing all over the place as he grins widely from ear to ear. Minghao isn’t exactly so enthusiastic. He hopes the mystery birthday guy doesn’t expect him to bring a gift… do students even bring gifts that aren’t cheap bottles of wine they made someone buy for them at the corner store? 

He’s about to hang up after he says a goodbye, but Soonyoung catches him for one last minute.

“I’ll text you all the details in a sec, and good luck finding a costume!”

Minghao blinks as the call ends, the call screen shrinking to leave Soonyoung’s contact photo staring at him brightly on the screen. And just like that, he hears the PING of the text notification before it even pops up at the top of his phone. He’s known Soonyoung too long to know that when he says ‘he’ll text you the details in a sec’ he _literally_ means a second. It’s as impressive as it is concerning.

Yet, still, he opens it, hoping that after reading through this he can let himself fall into a sleep coma before his class tomorrow. Or even better yet, sleep through to the day after this party so he just doesn’t have to go. His guilty conscience gets the better of him as he begins to read the scramble of details Soonyoung’s thrown together. 

 

_SOONYOUNG_

( **2:26** ) FRI 5THAPRIL. 115 PARK AVENUE MILLHOUSE. 21:00. ROYALTY THEME.

( **2:26** ) BRING UR OWN BOOZE!!!!!

 

As Minghao brushes his teeth, pulls on his pyjamas and reaches to switch out his lamp for the evening, he groans and falls back into his pillow. The party is in four days. Where the hell is he going to find a ‘royalty themed’ costume in that sort of time?

Soonyoung owes him big for this.

 

* * *

 

 

When Minghao says the costume was the last thing on his mind, he means it was the last thing on his mind. With impending exams, assessments, peer mentor meetings, and tutorials all crowded into the four days leading up to the party he had barely given any thought to what exactly he was going to do on Friday. Not that Soonyoung hadn’t reminded him every day since through text updates on the cool crown he had just bought from the dollar store, or how excited he was that Minghao was actually coming along with him so he didn’t have to drag his roommate Wonwoo out (poor guy always took Minghao’s place when he managed to get out of going somewhere, and he felt bad for him but Minghao knew the feeling far too well).

Only when he wakes up the morning of the 5thand begins brushing his teeth does he realise he actually does need to get a costume. If everyone going to the party is as enthusiastic about dressing up as Soonyoung is, then he’s going to look like a complete fool turning up in his jeans and a shirt. He breathes out heavily through his nose and spits the toothpaste into the sink before washing his face to wake him up and hopefully give him an idea of what to do.

He has five hours before his afternoon class, and despite everything in him telling him to use the time to study like he’d planned, Minghao can’t help but listen to the voice in his head (that is beginning to sound a lot like Soonyoung now that he thinks about it) telling him to take the bus into the city centre and at least peruse the shops. So he makes up his mind, grabbing his bag, shoving his wallet into the front pocket of the satchel before slinging it over his shoulder.

The bus rolls up to the stop just as Minghao approaches and he hops on immediately, taking an empty seat next to an old lady three rows back from the front. Thank god buses have Wi-Fi, he thinks, as he sits back and brings up his calendar for the next week. This evening is going to set him back on major studying, even if he is only planning to stay for the shortest time before sneaking out. God, he hopes Soonyoung does what he always does and spots someone else he knows at the party, leaving him alone without realising. Usually, Minghao hates it when his friend ditches him for someone else, but tonight he couldn’t be hoping for something more.

Twenty minutes pass and Minghao finds himself in the centre of town, headphones in his ears, ready to find anything cheap and last minute that he can pass off as a royal-themed costume. God help him.

His first instinct is to head to one of the larger superstores and check out their costume sections but to no avail. It wasn’t Halloween, he had told Soonyoung that, and the range of costumes at this time of year was limited to left-over Easter Bunny suits, Storm Trooper masks and a range of Disney princess dresses. The latter fits the theme, but Minghao wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to fit into a five-year-old’s Elsa costume, unfortunately.

Maybe he would just have to do what Soonyoung had done and grab himself a dollar store crown that would break three hours after he bought it. He couldn’t think of anything else or anywhere else that would stock anything remotely relevant to the theme at 10am on a Friday afternoon in April.

As Minghao accepted defeat, he began walking back through the store to the drinks section. He wasn’t old enough yet to buy alcohol, but if he was going to be up all night studying he figured he might as well grab some energy drinks to stop him completely crashing so early on.

But, as Minghao let out a barely audible groan, tossing his hair to the left he caught sight of the most awful long brown shirt he had ever seen in his life. Stopping in his tracks, he turns towards it with a laugh, pulling at the material with his fingers. He spots the tag and scoffs.

“Three dollars, yeah, I should hope so. It looks like something from the Middle Ages—” He trails off, bouncing the hand that is grasping the shirt as he thinks to himself. It wasn’t exactly _royalty_ itself, but Minghao can’t for the life of him think of any other option than to go as a peasant in the awful brown shirt he had stumbled across. He was sure there would be some awful pants he could find somewhere that would match it and make him look like someone that lived in a hut in a medieval town with a castle or some shit.

Grumbling to himself, he removes the hanger from the display and loops the shirt over his arm as Minghao sets out on a mission to find the worst pair of brown or grey pants he can. He isn’t as lucky in that department, but taking himself to the arts and crafts section of the store, he grabs some cheap craft rope from a shelf and brings them both to the checkout. A whole three dollars and seventy cents. Perfect.

Minghao spends the next hour lumbering from shop to shop, refusing to check the time on his phone in fear of seeing his morning flying by without being able to get any work done before class. He decides that, after finding nothing in any clothing or charity shops that would pass for being part of his costume, he’s going to have to just wear something he has in his closet and hope the lighting is too low for anyone to notice. He does, however, grab a cheap drugstore eye shadow palette full of browns and greys and thinks maybe he can attempt to add dirt-like patches to his attire. 

With everything stuffed safely but messily in his satchel, Minghao jogs for the next bus, praying there is enough time for him to make it back to his dorm in time to grab his necessary books, dump the stuff he’d bought that day, and make it to class to study a bit before his lecture commenced. He does, and Minghao thanks his lucky stars to even get ten minutes of review time with his textbook before that afternoon’s lecture and evening’s escapades.

God, he can only imagine what Soonyoung’s going to say to him when he sees what he’s wearing that evening.

 

* * *

 

“You’re going in _that?_ ”

Minghao looks down at his half-assed attempt at recreating a look from a Google image search he’d conducted less than half an hour ago. Given what he had, he was pretty pleased with how haggard he had made himself look: shirt half untucked, splattered with wet eyeshadow he had crushed up messily in his sink and tied around his waist with a piece of rope he’d secured loosely in a knot. Aside from his skinny black jeans and black brogues he thought his dirty peasant-inspired look was pretty good. He’d even painted his cheeks with a streak or two of brown eyeshadow for good measure and he’d left his hair messy from the nap he’d taken after his lecture.

“Yeah,” he shrugs, stepping aside to allow Soonyoung into his room later than the boy had originally stated he would be there. “What’s wrong with it?”

The shorter boy immediately blinks and shakes his head at him, pointing at his outfit. “That is not royal-themed, Hao!” Gesturing to his own torso, clad in a classic faux-velvet King’s cape, some kind of not-waistcoat, a stapled-on crest the boy had obviously drawn himself, all topped off with his dollar store crown. “This is royal-themed! Seriously, who are you supposed to be? Some shitty _Lord of The Rings_ character?”

He can’t help but laugh at how serious Soonyoung was being, moving to his desk to grab his keys and wallet to stuff into the pocket of his jeans. “I’m going as a peasant.” 

“Again, not exactly royal, is it? You look like you need a shower. You’re going to embarrass me.”

“Hey, every King needs people to rule over, right? That’s where I come in.” With a spin, Minghao gestures once again to himself, giving a dramatic bow to appease his pouting friend. “Your majesty.”

“Whatever,” Soonyoung waves his hand in Minghao’s general direction, taking out his phone to check the time. “I think Chan said he’s on his way to the party soon so we should get a move on. Have you got everything? Bindle? Silver pennies? Scraps of food for dinner?” 

Minghao rolls his eyes at his friend’s comment, clearly still mad he failed to dress up as he had foreseen. Giving his shoulder a push, Minghao grabs his phone and keys, shoving them into his pants pocket underneath the long trailing hem of his brown shirt.

“Done.”

“No beer or anything?” Soonyoung walks to the door. 

With a shrug, Minghao runs his fingers through his messy hair and follows after him, switching off the lights so he doesn’t have to see the pile of work to do on his messy desk. “Figured I’d steal someone else’s at the party.”

A hand claps his shoulder and Minghao trails his eyes up to his best friend’s grinning face. “A man after my own heart. I figured Jeonghan is gonna be there so why would I buy my own when he’s gonna have a shit ton of stuff for me to drink, y’know?”

Minghao agrees, trying to remember who Soonyoung is referencing before the pair of them make their way out of his dorm room and down the hall in the direction of the exit. Checking his phone once more, he notes the time. 21:32. He reckons it will be around 22:00 when they arrive and prays that there’s a bus around 22:30 that will be there to take him home.

 

* * *

 

It is 22:01 when they arrive and Minghao gives himself a mental pat on the back for his correct guesstimate. He’d spent the whole ride over psyching himself up so as to not completely ruin Soonyoung’s excited mood (though he’s not sure if he should stop him attempting to freestyle rap in their taxi to whatever weird medieval music he’d found on _Youtube_ ). He doesn’t, and sinks into his seat, staring out of the window with the occasional smile over to his friend whenever the boy slaps his arm or leg in joy.

Upon arrival at the destination, people are spilling out of the large white house onto the lawn, talking, laughing and… jousting? He can’t say he’s surprised – it’s a little earlier than he would’ve said anything like that would be happening, but they’re in college and Minghao is rarely shocked by students these days. He follows Soonyoung’s bouncing form up to the door only to be greeted by random guests, throwing their arms around Soonyoung whilst cheering in his face. Minghao forces a smile, the golds, reds, and silvers on the costumes blinding him under the hired party lights inside. The noise is already deafening and Minghao squints as they enter and are surrounded by students dressed head to toe in their best interpretation of what ‘royalty’ meant to them.

As predicted, Minghao sees a few interesting Disney princess costumes, no doubt purchased from an adult section of a costume website, as he’s sure Snow White’s dress was a little different from the one he spots an unfamiliar brunette across the room parading about in. He thinks she’s an odd match with the guy in the Game of Thrones costume she’s speaking to, but he feels very underdressed observing them all dolled up and in the party spirit. 

“I see Chan and Seungkwan!” Soonyoung pulls at his arm, thrusting a red cup into his hand. “Let’s go say hi.”

He follows suit, weaving in between what he guesses is a group of guys that had all decided to dress up in the exact same costume as one another for a laugh. Minghao brings the cup up to his lips, taking the tiniest of sips before wincing at the taste. Whatever it was, Soonyoung had not mixed it very well or the strength of the alcohol itself was a deadly percentage. Good thing he was only going to have the one drink before making a move. 

“Hey, guys!” Soonyoung cheers, embracing a dancing Chan and Seungkwan on the makeshift dance-floor. The two boys smile as they acknowledge them and Seungkwan moves to wrap Minghao in a hug as well.

Minghao smiles, hugging the boy back before pulling away to see the clear intoxicated blush on his cheeks. He’s grateful to see familiar faces from his friendship group rather than just faces Soonyoung introduces him too briefly before moving on. Seungkwan was in one of his first-year classes, and he knew Chan through Soonyoung, but the two had gotten on so well that they had remained friends. Both of them looked ridiculous in their crowns and costumes, dancing around giddily.

“When did you get here?” Seungkwan sings, slinging his arm around Minghao’s shoulders.

“Literally three minutes ago,” Soonyoung answers, taking a swig of his drink before doing a spin in his costume. “What do you guys think, huh? Do I look like I own a castle and an army of fifty-thousand men?”

The two of boys snort as Minghao smiles at the boy’s confidence. Soonyoung does look great, but when compared with half the guys at the party, his costume wouldn’t even rank anywhere in the top fifty. 

“Not bad, not bad.” Chan laughs, poking the boy with his plastic sword, “But it’s still not as good as mine.”

Soonyoung frowns, clearly angered at the comment. “What are you saying, you look like shit compared to me! Look at this crest,” he points to his chest; shaking his head, “I spent hours on this! Hours!”

“Yeah, and it looks like shit!”

Immediately Chan finds himself in a headlock with his friend, the two of them laughing as Seungkwan lets go of Minghao to pull the two apart.

Breaking apart with breathy laughs, Chan readjusts his crown on his head and nods in Minghao’s general direction. “Okay, man. What are you supposed to be? Prince and the Pauper or something?”

“Uh…” Minghao has never felt more foolish in his life. Why had he ever decided that his costume would be a good idea? The weight of his phone is noticeable in his pocket and he is dying to check how long he has left before he’s going to make a dash. “I’m a peasant.”

“Nice.” Seungkwan cheers, “Thinking outside the box.”

“Don’t lie, Seungkwan. It’s awful. Tell him it’s awful because he won’t listen to me.” Soonyoung shakes his head in disbelief. “He’s so embarrassing.”

“Maybe I wanted to embarrass you? Then I’ve done my job.” Minghao smirks, earning a playful punch from his best friend once again on his arm before he observes Soonyoung downing the contents of his red cup.

Crumpling the cup in his hand, Soonyoung quickly dumps it on a table beside an occupied couch before fishing out his phone. Minghao frowns as Soonyoung gestures for him to take it, but he does as Soonyoung wraps his arms around their friends with a big smile on his face.

“Take a picture of us, Hao.”

Minghao pauses for a second, trying not to let them know the disappointment he was facing in not being invited into the photo, but he gets it. He hadn't tried to find a good costume, left it to the last minute, and ended up looking like the rags Cinderella wears when her ballgown disappears after midnight. Only, he didn't have his own fairy godmother and this was his own doing. He opens the camera app and takes a deep breath before clicking the button a few times.

“And now a few of us posing!” Chan adds, holding his sword up to Seungkwan’s face with Soonyoung in between laughing. Minghao snaps the photos again as they move between a scene of play fighting, laughing, and what seemed like an actual duel between the three of them.

Lowering the phone, Minghao scratches the back of his neck and opens his mouth to call Soonyoung’s name and give his phone back. But as he takes a single step forward, he finds himself in a sudden swarm of guys all rushing towards his friends, yelling and cheering them on in their faux battle. Minghao trips backwards a little, half-falling into the edge of the couch and a couple dressed as Princess Bubblegum and Prince Zuko sat there at the edge, sending him an angry look at his sudden disturbance.

He yells an apology over the bellowing music, turning back to the group of people in hopes that Soonyoung has emerged so that he can give the boy his phone and make his great escape. He’d shown his face, he’d dressed up, now it was time to leave. Minghao felt a heaviness in his stomach, feeling slightly bad for wanting to leave, but he knows he has no chance of doing well in his psych exam if he doesn’t. He also can’t just make a run for it whilst still possessing Soonyoung’s phone. So he waits. 

Standing there for what feels like forever but is really only probably five minutes, Minghao observes the ever-growing crowd, drinks being passed around and dancing getting more frantic. At this point, he can’t see Chan, Seungkwan or Soonyoung’s brightly colored hair in amongst the mass of bodies, the phone in his hand keeping him pinned to his spot on the arm of the couch. He’s too afraid to even attempt to push through, knowing he will sustain multiple bruises or injuries from whatever fake weapons people have brought with them and are flailing around. He is also worried that Soonyoung will not leave his side if he catches sight of him once again, meaning he would have to stay.

Minghao can’t see any good way out of this party. If the phone isn’t keeping him hostage, he knows for sure that his best friend would.

With a sigh, Minghao pushes himself up and chews on the inside of his cheek as he goes in search of the drinks table because the drink he had been given prior was definitely not consumable. He prays for lemonade or some punch that doesn’t have a 90% alcohol volume and that doesn’t taste like paint thinner.

 It’s the first time he gets a look at the house – he wouldn’t say properly considering how packed and decked out it is – but it’s large and grand and Minghao whistles to himself, impressed. He passes the stairs, white bannisters and dark oak, every step occupied by people chatting, laughing or making out. He averts his eyes as he strides forward towards what he assumes is the kitchen area, a large well-lit room with all the drinks and snacks stacked in the centre of a large table.

He hadn’t packed a coat with him but Minghao is already starting to feel disgustingly sweaty with the close proximity of everyone in the house. He knows Soonyoung had said he’d invited people of his own, but Minghao wonders exactly how many of these people the actual host had invited and if he had expected it to get this out of hand.

Managing to lean over a group of friends donned in a mix of outfits from _Disney_ to _Princess Mononoke_ , all talking around the table about what he thinks is a group trip to Hawaii, Minghao swaps his previous red cup for a new one at the bottom of a stack of plastics. The selection of drinks adorning the table seems endless but he’s glad that there is a punch bowl in the middle of it.

A push at his left side sends him stumbling to the right a little, knocking into someone else. He glares in the direction of the group as they laugh to each other, completely unaware that they had just sent him falling into the side of another unsuspecting partygoer. With a shake of his head, refusing to get worked up over something that was bound to happen at a party, Minghao shoots an apologetic glance to the said partygoer on his right.

“Sorry. It’s really crowded in here,” he smiles, closed-lipped before attempting to reach for the ladle to the punch bowl.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” 

Minghao pauses and frowns a little, turning his head back to the right to look at the boy he had just nudged. He has to look up a little bit to meet the brunette’s eyes, but upon meeting them he can see the sincerity in his gaze and he pulls his hand back.

“Any reason in particular?” He raises his eyebrows, prompting the boy to smile and shake his head. Minghao takes a moment to study his costume, once again feeling extremely out of place upon sighting the symbols stitched into his robe. King of Hearts, he thinks, impressed at the guy’s different take on the theme. 

“Well, I mean go ahead if you like you like rum, gin, fruit juice, and god knows what else,” the King of Hearts jiggles the beer in his hand and lets out a little laugh, “Unless you’re not too keen on the special ingredient in it.”

Minghao looks from the King of Hearts to the punch bowl and back, tilting his head in intrigue. “Which is?”

The boy coughs a little before leaning towards him. Minghao furrows his eyebrows and begins to move his head back before he realises the boy has stopped short to whisper. “Spit globules.”

Minghao scrunches up his nose and the boy smiles once again. “How lovely.” 

“The beers are untouched and unopened though, so they should be safe.”

Hesitating, he ponders whether he wants a full can of beer or a smaller cup of something he can portion himself. But from what the King of Hearts has hinted to him is that most of the host’s open drinks have been tampered with in questionable ways and he concludes that maybe a can of beer is the best option. And once he’s done with the one drink he knows he will go home. 

“Sure, why not?” Minghao nods, smiling back at the stranger as the taller guy moves around to the opposite side of the table to grab him a can from a bunch of six-packs. Minghao removes himself from the human sandwich he finds himself in and steps out of the cluster of people as the King of Hearts returns with an outstretched hand and a smile on his face.

“Here you go.”

Taking the can from the boy’s hand, Minghao ignores how he accidentally grabs at the boy’s fingers before the cold aluminum cylinder. “Thanks. For both the drink and the warning about the punch.”

“No problem. I like your costume by the way.”

“Uh, thanks.” Minghao pulls at the collar of his shirt, suddenly very aware once again of how little effort he had put into dressing up. That realisation back in the forefront of his mind, he cocks his head to the side and tries to justify the reason behind his outfit, just in case. “Not sure if that’s sarcasm but I thought I’d do something different with the theme.” Totally intentional and not because I ran out of time and didn’t put in any effort because I actually don’t wanna be here. _Totally_. 

“You’re like pre-King Arthur Pendragon, right?” The King of Hearts makes wild gestures with his hands before bringing his drink to his lips.

Minghao doesn’t know whether to adopt that idea and roll with it, but the lingering worry of the boy asking him a question about whoever this Arthur Dragon guy is prevents him from doing so and making him look like a complete fool.

“Actually, I’m a peasant under a King’s rule. It’s kinda lame, huh?"

“No, no! It makes total sense.” Minghao raises and eyebrow and scoffs, the boy nodding and bugging his eyes a little to reassure him. “No, really. It’s different at least. I mean, one guy came here dressed as the _Burger King_ mascot, so I don’t think you’re the only one that’s gone a little obscure.”

The boy laughs, and Minghao can’t help but laugh too, eyes scanning the packed lounge for any sight of this guest. Noticing, the stranger smiles toothily and points over his right shoulder, making Minghao follow to where he’s gesturing only to finally spot exactly what had been described. At least he looked like he was having a good time, dancing on the leather sofa with a firm grip on his mask and crown. 

“You weren’t lying.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“At least he’s having fun.” Minghao prompts, tapping the side of his cup to the beat of whatever chart song was playing right now over the large speakers in each room. “I know my friend is. Somewhere. He always says he’s a prince so the theme of this party is perfect for him.”

The boy raises an eyebrow, tilting his head. “Are you not having fun?”

With a wince and shrug, Minghao sighs. “I’m just struggling to have a good time when I know what time of the year it is.” 

“Ah,” the boy nods, pointing in recognition of what he’s said. “Exams, right?”

“Yeah. I’m sure the birthday guy has some too, I don’t know him, but I certainly don’t know how he’s managed to pull this off without having a breakdown.”

“Maybe he wants one last hoorah before having to think about the impending doom that is set to follow. Plus, you only turn twenty-one once.”

Minghao can’t help but swallow and smile as the boy beams at him. He has really nice eyes now that Minghao has properly looked into them. And a nice smile too. He feels his cheeks burning and he decides to look down at his barely-touched drink instead, frowning a little in confusion at why his face is so warm.

“Ah, well, I guess then I wouldn’t know. I don’t turn twenty-one until November.”

“An underage drinker?” The boy fake gasps, “Maybe I shouldn’t have offered you that beer. Should I get one of the Kings here to lock you up?”

“Then I guess you should arrest half the people here because I know at least seventy per cent of the people here are underage, and then there wouldn’t be much of a party.”

Another laugh. “You’re right. I think more than half the people here weren’t even invited, actually. I’m surprised nothing has been broken yet.”

“Don’t speak too soon.”

Minghao lets out a low giggle at the King of Hearts touching his head twice in superstition. It seems like the whole house then erupts into a synchronized cheer as _Uptown Funk_ begins to play and all the guys with swords raise them in the air. He taps his foot to the beat, drinking some more of his beer before fishing out his phone to check the time.

“Holy shit.” He exclaims quietly, still managing to grab the attention of his current conversational partner who leans forward in question.

“Everything okay?” Minghao looks back up at the boy, wide-eyed and pondering. He looks like a big puppy that’s begging for a treat and Minghao wants nothing more than to appease him so he’s not pouting the way he is. What the hell is he thinking? He shakes his head, clicking his phone again to re-examine the lock screen. 

“Yeah, it’s just that it’s almost eleven-thirty.”

A pause. The boy raises his eyebrows and looks at him inquisitively as to prompt him to finish, and Minghao slides the phone back into his pocket. “I was supposed to leave maybe twenty minutes after I arrived. It’s been over an hour.” Maybe he had been waiting for Soonyoung, Chan and Seungkwan to emerge from the crowd of dancers for longer than he expected.

“So, why didn’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

The boy opens his mouth to speak, only to hesitate as a gaggle of girls enter the room in various costumes – one that Minghao can see and appreciate is a Princess Leia outfit – with their sole intention being to raid the drinks table. They cut directly through the middle of the pair of them, and Minghao watches them walk by endlessly, looking over a few of their heads to the King of Hearts with a look of amused disbelief. The taller boy returns it with a toothy grin, readjusting his crown as it is knocked slightly off centre. They sidestep through to the corridor, which for the most part compared to the rest of the house, is pretty clear. Avoiding Jon Snow and Princess Jasmine engaging in a desperate make out session, the two park themselves against the wall where no one will barge past or through them.

Minghao takes another sip of his drink, feeling the weight of the can decreasing by the minute. He’s not a big beer drinker, but he’s glad the King of Hearts had talked him out of the saliva cocktail. He can only imagine himself tucked up in bed with the worst flu of his life if he’d been unlucky enough to have a cup.

“So?” The boy reiterates his question, not having to talk as loud out in the corridor rather than one of the main rooms. Minghao lets his head loll back so it’s resting on the white wall, using his hand to pull Soonyoung’s phone out of his other pocket. He waves it in front of the boy’s face with a flourish and a sigh.

“My friend left this with me and I know he won’t make it home without it.”

“Ah.” The guy nods then pauses. “But why do you have his phone? Is he not trustworthy when he’s at a party? Does he get drunk enough to call his ex or prank call the cops?”

Minghao shakes his head, his smile reappearing on his face. “No, no, nothing like that – not that I know of. He made me take the photo of him and a few of our friends because they were all dressed up suitably. And I, well…” 

Once again, he gestures to his make-up covered face, brown shirt and rope belt paired with his modern pants and shoes in one sweeping flourish. A final sigh almost harmonizes with the King of Hearts’ hum.

“Wasn’t up to scratch?”

“You’ve got it.”

Minghao drains the final bit of his beer from the can, unsure of how to break it to the guy that it was now time for him to leave. He looks at the King of Hearts who has a contemplative look on his face. It’s kind of cute, the way he’s biting the inside of his bottom lip in thought, brows furrowed slightly in the middle. Minghao can’t help but wonder himself what is going through the boy’s mind.

“Wait here just one second.” The boy’s face breaks into a wide smile and Minghao is stunned, unable to move for that moment even if he wanted to. All he can do is watch as the boy turns quickly and weaves his way through the guests until he has disappeared from sight back into the kitchen.

Leaning against the wall, Minghao places the cool can against his cheek and swallows. He needs to get out of here before he changes his mind because he’s having too much of a good time talking to this random guy, that the prospect of staying at the party for a little longer doesn’t seem totally unfathomable. His stomach somersaults and Minghao tries to ignore it, remembering the stack of revision he has to do awaiting him on his desk, floor, and bed.

It’s suddenly extremely warm, or at least, Minghao only just notices how warm it is. With his face already heated up he hadn’t really realised how sweaty the party was getting, but with the number of people moving about and occupying every inch of the house he supposes he shouldn’t be surprised.

 _Poor birthday boy_ , Minghao thinks to himself, moving the can to the other cheek in a slim attempt to cool the other one down just a tad so he wasn’t completely flushed. He can only imagine the mess at the end of the night. _I really hope he’s having a good time, even if half the people here are complete strangers – myself included_. He makes a mental note to make sure he puts the can he’s holding in the correct bin before he leaves to make the job even just a little bit easier.

The atmosphere begins to drown him as he feels submerged in the music and voices, alone and unsure of how to save himself. He takes a deep breath to check if he actually can still breathe, and he’s glad he can because he feels a little bit lost with the only people he knows here doing their own thing without a single worry about him, how he’s feeling or where he is. Minghao loves Soonyoung, don’t get him wrong, but one of the main reasons he never attends any parties with him is because he knows it is inevitable that the boy will leave him for some other friends he spots at the event. He squeezed his eyes shut and sees stars, counting the seconds that pass. 

“Here you go!” The voice to his left startles him, but he’s glad to see the return of his new acquaintance holding out a long sceptre of some kind, that was definitely constructed out of what looks like toilet roll tubes. Minghao shakes his head to clear the previous thoughts from it and lets out a slight laugh at the sight of the object. “Take it.”

Minghao grasps the centre of the sceptre and holds it up so he can examine the attempt at a papier-mâché crown adorning the end. It’s not half bad considering, and he makes sure to nod in approval at the King of Hearts who looks very proud of it.

“You made this?”

A shrug and another smile; Minghao can see his teeth and he thinks maybe he needs another drink because he finds the boy’s sharp, large canines rather endearing and he hates the thought that just passed through his mind.

“Spent a whole evening on it.”

“Well, it’s very good. I like the initiative to make it out of toilet roll tubes.”

“I would’ve had it made out of gold if I’d had the time, but I had to make do with what I had.”

Minghao smiles and begins to hand the sceptre back to him, only to receive a shake of the boy’s head in response.

“Take it. Then you can go and show your friends that you’re just as dressed up as they are. Oh!” The King of Hearts reaches up to his head and grasps the crown there, removing it and placing it on Minghao’s head in one swift motion. “There. Now you could be a newly crowned Prince Arthur in _The Sword and The Stone_.” 

His hair falls into his eyes a little, but Minghao lets out a giggle and readjusts the crown on his head. It’s a little too big but with a little moving and repositioning of his already messy hair, it sits comfortably on his head and he holds up the sceptre in front of him. Standing up straight, he tilts his head up and chuckles as the boy bows to him.

“You look so bare without your crown. Here,” Minghao reaches to remove it and give the crown back, but he’s stopped when the boy’s hand curls around his wrist not allowing him to move. He swallows at how warm the boy’s hand is on his skin and notices how his fingers curl easily around his thin wrist. Minghao breathes out and lowers his arms so the boy lets go.

“Uh, keep it. It looks better on you and it’ll show your friends, right? Even though I think your costume was good as it was.” The King of Hearts scratches his head, ruffling his dark brunette locks now there is no crown there to stop him. “You can give it back to me after you’ve proved a point.”

With a nod, Minghao looks back at his phone as he fishes it out of his pocket, forcing himself to look anywhere but the boy in front of him. He really needs to go, he’s stayed far too long and he has no chance of staying awake if he gets back to his dorm any later. That, and the nagging feeling in his chest that makes him want to stay and talk to the kind boy he’d been with for most of the evening.

“Can I get you another drink?”

Minghao hesitates and then nods, the King of Hearts’ eyes lighting up as he makes another disappearance back into the kitchen. He feels bad, but Minghao knows this is the perfect time to make his move back into the lounge to look for his best friend so he pushes off from the wall and moves through the increasingly drunk crowd of people. He glances over his shoulder into the kitchen to see if the boy is already making his way back, but Minghao can hardly make out anyone’s face from how clustered it is in there and he’s sure the boy is having trouble getting drinks fast so he uses the opportunity to move. 

He’s sure he knocks into nearly twenty different people in his short trip into the lounge, spotting the same Jon Snow and Princess Jasmine from earlier now making out on a couch. _At least they’re enjoying themselves_ , Minghao quips to himself with a quick raise of his eyebrows, hoping that he doesn’t find his friends in precarious positions. He really doesn’t want to check the bedrooms upstairs. 

The lounge is packed but Minghao moves from person to person, looking at their faces, fake beards, masks, crowns, asking everyone if they knew were Soonyoung was. Many of them brush him off with their hands or reply that they don’t know a Soonyoung, and Minghao is really starting to work himself up to the idea that he may just have to check the bedrooms to see if his friend is having _fun_ with someone else.

He’s never been happier than in the moment when someone he asks points through to the back door which is slid wide open, chants coming from outside. Minghao thanks the girl that says she saw him go out the back with a group, and he begins to weave his way through the crowd, using the sceptre to help move certain intoxicated partygoers out of the way until he’s finally outside.

The cold, brisk air hits him like a slap to the face and he lets out a breath as his eyes dart around in the dark. It isn’t hard to spot Soonyoung and Seungkwan right in the centre of the long garden patio, cheering on a poor boy that is being made to chug from a keg. Minghao scrunches up his face and walks towards his best friend, fishing out the phone from his pocket with certainty that he was just going to give it to him and leave. He couldn’t fail this test, he had to leave. 

“Soonyoung?” He attempts to shout over the music and noise of the chatter surrounding him but to no avail. The boy’s blue hair is drenched with sweat and he’s too engaged in the group’s cheers to hear him from a few metres away. “Soonyoung!”

The second yell of his name attracts Soonyoung’s attention and he immediately beams at his friend, running towards him to embrace him in a huge hug. Minghao lets out an ‘ _oof_ ’ at the collision of his mass against him and he can smell the alcohol on the boy. Still, he wraps his arms around his back for a few seconds, giving him a pat before pulling back to hold out his phone.                     

“You found it!” Soonyoung sings, grabbing it from Minghao’s hand before wrapping him back in a hug. “Thank you!”

“You never lost it. You just started messing about with the guys before I had the chance to hand it back to you after I took your photo.” 

“And you got a crown! You look great!” Soonyoung pulls back once again, this time his vision fixed on the costume piece on top of Minghao’s head. He sees him pout, and Minghao frowns. “It’s better than mine. Where did you get it?”

 “Some guy gave it to me when we were talking.”

Ears pricking up, Soonyoung’s eyes twinkle. “A guy?”

“Yeah, I had to pass the time somehow whilst you were jousting with Chan and Seungkwan.” Minghao moves the sceptre from one hand to the other and rocks back and forth on the spot. “Anyway, now that you have your phone I better—” 

“Does this guy have a name?”

He can see it in Soonyoung’s slightly drunken gaze. The twinkle in his eye shows that he’s interested in what exactly he and this guy were doing that prompted him to be crowned with his attire. Minghao runs a hand over his face and puts on a smile for his friend, only to realise that actually, he never did get the boy’s name. He was too busy having a fun conversation with him or looking into his horribly dreamy eyes. 

“I, uh, didn’t get his name, no.” Minghao looks down at the floor but he can feel Soonyoung’s disappointed gaze on him. “That doesn’t matter anyway, because I’m leav—”

As if on queue all the lights in the house flipped off and one great choral cheer erupts from the crowd, everyone suddenly rushing to get back inside the house. Minghao looks around him in confusion before seeing Soonyoung let out a cheer of his own, placing his hands on his shoulders.

“It’s midnight!”

The out-of-tune singing of Happy Birthday that fills the house is possibly one of the worst things Minghao has ever heard, but he allows himself to be pulled inside by his best friend with a laugh. He presumes he should at least catch a glimpse at the host considering he had invaded his party under Soonyoung’s orders. He’s beginning to wonder if Soonyoung himself even knows the host or if another person had invited him. Knowing Soonyoung, it could have been either.

They make it into the lounge where most people seem to be gathered and Minghao continues to allow his best friend to guide him, and he acts as a support whenever Soonyoung stumbles in his slightly intoxicated state. Before they know it they are both balancing on the back of a sofa to see over the heads of everyone there. The room is dark aside from the phones that light up the space and even though the music is no longer blasting over the speakers, the singing from everyone is loud enough that Minghao has to wince and concentrate hard to hear himself think.

His eyes dart around the room, trying to examine all the faces there to see if he can make out whom everyone is singing to. That’s when he spots him in front of the newly appearing cake, eyes twinkling like they were earlier as his face is lit up by the glowing of the candles.

_“Happy birthday to Mingyu! Happy birthday to you!”_

Minghao has to tear his eyes away from the boy to look at Soonyoung on his right, singing the most out of tune of everyone around them, only to look back at the boy. He watches his hair get ruffled by a group of guys around him, the ones manning the cake and therefore the ones Minghao assumes are the boy’s actual friends. He looks happy, nose scrunched and alive with the spirit of the party. 

There’s a ringing in his ears that he can’t get rid of and he manages to lip-read the boy as he asks everyone to quieten down as he thanks them for all showing up. Candles are blown out from smiling, pouting lips before the clapping begins. And Minghao remains frozen through all of it because once the cake is lifted back out of the room to be cut, the birthday boy looks slightly lost under his happy persona; he’s clutching two beers in his hand and his eyes are wandering even as he greets and thanks everyone that approaches him.

“Cake time!” Soonyoung shakes him – _literally_ shakes him – from his trance and Minghao has to catch himself before he falls off the back of the sofa and hits his head against the wall. They climb down and Soonyoung’s giddy attitude reminds him of a pre-pubescent kid. “Let’s go before it’s all gone.”

“Wait,” Minghao manages to grab Soonyoung’s arm before he can dash away. His blue-haired friend looks down at the hand holding him still before meeting his eyes. “What was that guy’s name?” 

“Who? Mingyu?” Soonyoung answers, earning a nod from Minghao. “Yeah, he’s the birthday boy. Did I not tell you that?”

With a shake of his head, Minghao lets go of Soonyoung’s arm and he shakes himself off, pulling his costume back into shape.

“Yeah, great guy. Throws great parties, obviously.” Soonyoung grins and opens his mouth to continue, but someone calling out to him in greeting from behind stops him. Soonyoung turns and runs into the guy’s arms, leaving Minghao standing alone in the corner of the room. After a minute it’s obvious that Soonyoung’s not going to return to him with the excitement of friendly faces and the prospect of cake, so he grabs his phone from his pocket with his free hand and begins to slowly weave towards the door.

 

_MINGHAO_

( **12:06** ) hey soon, i’m heading home. Lost you in the crowd and have to get some work done before Monday.

( **12:06** ) get home safe.

 

Sending the texts with a glance over his shoulder in the general direction of his friend, he hopes the boy will check his phone at least once in the next three or four hours he knows he’ll be there. Minghao sighs and groans as he’s barged into by multiple people on their way into the kitchen, only just making it out of the front door and into the fresh air alive. He takes a deep breath, grateful to inhale something other than the smell of perspiration and different alcoholic beverages lingering in the air. 

Minghao hesitates after calling for an _Uber_ to come pick him up since no buses would run this late. Maybe he should go back inside and find _Mingyu_. He should at the very least wish him a long overdue happy birthday and apologise for walking off when he had so politely offered to get him another beer. God knows he wanted to. There was something about his charm, and he didn’t know if it was due to the fact he was kind of his knight in shining armor when warning him about the punch bowl, and giving him his crown to make him feel more comfortable. Whatever it was, Minghao hadn’t had an instant attraction to someone like that since his junior year in high school, and everyone knew how bad his crush on Wen Junhui was.

He runs a hand through his hair; accidentally knocking off the crown he had forgotten was perched there. Minghao spins to pick it up just as the headpiece lands on the grass with a soft thump to the beat of the music that resumes playing indoors.

Maybe he should go back in, even to just return the crown and sceptre that isn’t actually his. But his head is telling him no, so Minghao bites his lip and sucks in a breath, moving to place the items by the door. Something stops him, whether it’s common sense that by leaving them out in the open someone could take them or they could get broken, or something else entirely, he doesn’t know. But Minghao clutches them to his chest and turns to walk towards the road to wait for his lift, allowing the party to grow distant behind him.

He had only wanted to study this evening, but if his heartbeat didn’t slow down he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to concentrate for a single second.

 

* * *

 

Minghao had been right, upon returning from the party he had hardly been able to concentrate for a single second.

Now, sat in the on-campus coffee shop later on Sunday, Minghao feels his eyelids drooping and his mind wondering. His first exam was on Monday at 9am and he should be focused on thinking about different cases and psychologists; instead, he can’t stop wishing his heart would slow down when thinking about Mingyu.

He hates that he had propped the crown and sceptre up on his desk as soon as Minghao had returned to his dorm, and he hates that he had pondered to himself about how to return them to the boy more than he had thought about his important studies. 

A groan escapes his lips as he lays his head on his arms on the table, letting the sound of his heart beat in his ears and the noise of anxious students and baristas swallow him up. If only he had just left, or said no to the drink, or given Soonyoung back his phone instead of waiting around like an idiot. 

As if summoned, the ring of his phone alerts him to sit up and answer the call, the screen displaying a goofy photo of Soonyoung he had taken at the beginning of first-year when they had moved into their new rooms. It was good to see he was alive, seeing as the boy had ignored his texts from the party.

Placing the phone to his ear whilst screwing his eyes shut, thumb and finger pressing into the bridge of his nose, Minghao sighs and answers.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?”

“On campus. At the café. Why?” _Nice to hear from you too_.

“I’ll be right there.” End of call.

And just like his texts, when Soonyoung says he’ll be right there he means it because within three minutes Minghao can see his bright blue hair bouncing through the doors towards him as they make eye contact. He gives his friend a wave as Soonyoung smiles a knowing smile and Minghao wonders what it is he called him for.

“Hey, what’s up?” Minghao asks, worried as his friend sits down on the empty chair beside him and refuses to look anywhere but his eyes. Minghao shifts slightly in his seat. 

“Mingyu, huh?”

The name startles him and Minghao looks down at his notebook for a second, eyebrows furrowed.

“You know, our gender studies class group chat was blowing up this morning because of him. All because some, I quote, ' _pretty guy_ ' stole his crown and sceptre.”

Minghao blinks, looking up at his friend. “You’re in the same class?”

“Yeah, and you never told me the guy you were flirting with the entire night was Mingyu himself?”

Granted, Minghao had kind of hoped Soonyoung had forgotten the majority of the night, especially the tiny insignificant detail he had shared with him about how he had been occupied with the company of someone most of the evening. “I wasn’t flirting!”

“But you think he’s cute, right?”

Minghao babbles, cheeks turning red suddenly at his statement. “I don’t—he’s just—how could you _possibly_ know that?” 

“I didn’t, but most people do, and your incoherent bumbling just then confirmed to me it’s true.”

Soonyoung taps Minghao’s cheek fondly, reaching for the boy’s iced coffee to take a sip from the straw. The brunette can’t deny it to his friend, swallowing as he picks up his pen and attempts to carry on with his notes.

“So… when are you going to see him?”

“Excuse me?” He exclaims and snatches the coffee back, Soonyoung’s eyebrows rising at his defensiveness. 

“Well, you can’t keep his crown forever. And he wants it back.”

“I was gonna give it back, eventually. Or you could, you know, since you’re actually friends.” 

With a shake of his head, Soonyoung places his hand on top of Minghao’s to stop him from speaking. “No way. Nuh-uh. You are going to give it back to him, you’re going to tell him you enjoyed the party, and that you’d like to see him again.” 

“You’re absolutely crazy! I spoke to him for an hour that was it! And he doesn’t even know my name— _hell_ , I only found out his by coincidence.”

“An hour is a long time, he called you pretty and he _does_ know your name.”

“What?”

“I told him, of course. In the group chat.”

Minghao freezes, bugging his eyes in disbelief. His heart jumps in his chest and he scolds himself internally for being so pathetic. They had talked before, why was he getting so worked up over the guy knowing his name? Or maybe it wasn’t that, maybe it was the fact he knew he would have to see him to give back the objects that weren’t his, and then never see Mingyu again. 

“I can’t believe you.” Minghao manages to say, strained as he reaches for his coffee.

Soonyoung laughs and claps him on his back, causing him to choke a little on the beverage he’s sipping. “I’ve not seen you like this since high school, and to think it’s all because I invited you along to his party.”

“Soonyoung, please. Nothing is going to happen. He’s good-looking and seems nice, sure, but I don’t know the guy and he doesn’t know me,” Minghao sighs and calms himself, taking another sip of his drink, picking up his pen. “And we both have an exam tomorrow, so can you please leave me alone to study.”

It takes a few moments before he hears Soonyoung take a deep breath and get to his feet. Feeling bad for being so blunt with him, Minghao looks up at his friend and sighs, trying to smile.

“I’m sorry, I’m just stressed.”

“I know. And I really think you should meet him.” Soonyoung pries, holding up his hands to stop Minghao from speaking again. “After exams this week. Even if it is just to give back the stuff you stole." 

“I didn’t steal it, he leant it to me because you guys were being assholes about my costume.”

“He just pitied you for looking so bad at his own birthday, Hao.” The boy claps him on his back again and Minghao lets out a breathy laugh, “But, he’s a nice guy and he seemed genuinely intrigued to know if anyone in our class had any idea who you were. I didn’t even realise it was you until he mentioned that hideous brown shirt, then I had no doubt in my mind that it was him who you said you were talking to.”

Minghao hangs his head in defeat and nods. “Right. I’ll find his social media or something, I guess.”

He observes his best friend shaking his head, running a hand through his blue hair afterwards. With a snatch of Minghao’s iced coffee once more for a final sip, Soonyoung stands and points at him. “I’ll text you all the details later. You keep working your ass off.”

A grateful smile and ‘ _good luck_ s’ are exchanged between Minghao and Soonyoung before the shorter boy ups to leave him alone. God, how he wishes the boy had never shown up; he had already been struggling to concentrate before Soonyoung made his appearance, but now with the impending doom of having to speak to Mingyu at the forefront of his mind, he knew he was not getting any last-minute revision done for a while. Minghao runs his hands over his face and through his hair before sinking lower in his seat. He was pathetic, truly. What twenty-year-old acted this way over someone they had hardly spoken to and knew nothing about? 

Apart from his name and the fact he was taking one of the same classes as Soonyoung, Minghao knew nothing about Mingyu. He could be a horrible person, rude, mean, a bully. But something about the boy’s smile, the way his nose scrunches, the twinkle in his eye, and the softness of his voice convinced him that it wasn’t possible that Mingyu possessed a single bad bone in his body. He was as threatening as a puppy. 

Enough, he tells himself as he finishes up his coffee and places his earphones in his ears to drown out his thoughts with a lo-fi playlist on _YouTube_. He'll worry about this sudden dumb 'crush' or whatever when his important schoolwork is out of the way. He needed to focus on the study of other people's psychology rather than his own.

 

* * *

 

Minghao has the worst night's sleep of his life that evening and ends up waking a whole hour earlier than his intended alarm. Lying awake in bed for at least twenty minutes, he eventually decides to get up, shower and change into the comfiest clothes he owns: these end up being some old worn-out sweatpants and hooded sweater he has owned for nearly four years. They only just still fit him after the small growth spurts he has experienced during his later teens, but they're comforting enough that at least he won't be pulling at his jeans or shirt in the exam.

Brushing his teeth, Minghao paces around his room and flicks through the flash cards he had left abandoned on his desk the night before. He knows he shouldn't be worried, he should listen to Soonyoung whenever he tells him he has nothing to worry about because he works hard, but Minghao can't help it - overthinking is part of his programming, no matter how much he wishes it weren't. Without that part of him, he thinks, maybe he would be able to be as carefree as Soonyoung, go to as many parties as him and Chan, or just go out without thinking of the repercussions. 

He spits into the sink upon returning to his bathroom, giving his face a wash to wake him up fully before he hears his real alarm and goes to silence it. Minghao groans at the upbeat song blasting from his phone that he had chosen as motivation to get up, grateful when silence fills the room so he can take a few steadying breaths in the peace and quiet.

Grabbing his bag, phone, flash cards, and about fifteen pens from the pot on his desk, Minghao slides on his shoes and leaves his room for his exam, flicking through the papers the entire walk down the hall and out of his building. He hopes his brain doesn't go into override by going through everything he knows on repeat, step after step, only looking up whenever it is time for him to cross the road.

His phone pings and Minghao fishes it out of his pocket with one hand to check the screen, a small grateful smile spreading across his face.

 

_SOONYOUNG_

( **8:25** ) if i dont see u beforehand GOOD LUCK IN THERE!!

( **8:26** ) i did an all-nighter so if u see me sleeping in there u know why

 

His fingers tap at the screen to send a thumbs up emoji, and just as Minghao begins to type the first three letters of 'good luck to you too' in response, he walks straight into someone's back. He immediately loses all of his breath, stumbling backwards a little too fast, tripping over his own feet until he lands on the ground with a thud. His hands had let go of all of his flash cards during the fall, a pile of them lying scattered around him. Minghao looks at his hands and wipes them together with a grimace on his face, clearing off any asphalt or general dirt on the floor that had stuck to his skin upon impact. He picks up his phone, checks for scratches and slips it back into his pocket before moving to his knees to pick up the papers.

"Are you okay?"

Minghao grabs a pile of three cards and allows his gaze to move in the direction of the voice, blindly reaching for more of his belongings lying dirty on the ground around him. He cannot believe his eyes when he sees the boy bend down to help grab the flash cards and he is met with a toothy grin.

With a thanks as he takes the flash cards back into his hands, standing back on his feet, Minghao clears his throat and nods. "Yeah, thank you. I wasn't looking where I was going." 

He chews the inside of his lip as he looks up at Mingyu in front of him, readjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder. Minghao doesn't know whether to say something else or just run, but he feels himself almost buckle once again as the tall brunette chuckles.

"Minghao, right?" 

He feels like a nodding dog with the amount his head is bobbing in response. "That's me. And you're Mingyu. It's uh," _breathe_ , "nice to see you again."

"You too. You look a lot less dirty."

The comment confuses him for a second and Minghao raises his eyebrows until he watches Mingyu pointing to his cheeks and shirt. "Ah, right. My make up. I actually forgot all about that." 

"It's nice. I mean… you look nice." Minghao looks down at the clothes he has thrown on and frowns, pulling at the loose material he'd chosen purely for comfort and not fashion. Once again he doesn't know if the boy is joking with him, pitying him, or if Mingyu genuinely just gave him a compliment because he just so happens to be blind. Either way, he lets out a shrug and a laugh. 

"You need to stop throwing around empty compliments when you don't mean them?"

Mingyu's eyes widen and he looks at him in disbelief. "How do you know I don't mean it?"

Pointing a finger, Minghao emphasises his point as he juggles the flashcards a little in his other hand. "Soonyoung told me you pitied me, hence why you gave me your... uh, you gave me your crown." 

"Well, he's lying." Minghao swallows, Mingyu bouncing from foot to foot as they pause. He clears his throat; smile never once leaving his face and Minghao finds it extremely difficult to look anywhere that isn't his toothy grin or enchanting chestnut eyes. "Hey, you never told me Soonyoung was your friend."

"You didn't know me at all."

"I mean, I should've guessed when you described him. No one else I know has their name literally set as _Prince_ in our group chat, but I figured there were so many people at my house that night that it could've been anyone." 

Minghao waves his hand, feeling the weight of his phone in his pocket. He knows he has tons of time to get to the exam hall, it is literally less than a street away, but he can't help but feel the clock ticking down. Yet, as he tries to make a move, his feet remain glued to the ground.

Brushing off his back and legs, Minghao feels himself blushing under the taller boy's gaze and babbles out, "I promise I will get your stuff back to you. The, uh," gesturing to his head and making the shape of a sceptre with his hands, Minghao can't find the right words, "they're in my room." 

"Were they impressed?"

"Excuse me?"

"Soonyoung and the others?" Mingyu shifts, leaning his head to the side as if to examine Minghao from every angle. "Were they impressed? Were the additions to your costume suitable enough for you to be included in whatever they were doing?" 

"Definitely, but I think at that point they were a little too drunk to care." Minghao slides his hands into his pockets, depositing the cards there. "But thank you -- for the stuff and for helping me just now. I think I owe you big time."

His heart thuds in his chest as the words leave his mouth and Mingyu waves his hands in disagreement. "It's fine. Just let me know whenever you're around to get my crown back. It's on loan to me from the Queen and I don't think she'd be particularly pleased if I told her it was in the hands of a commoner." 

"A commoner, eh?" Minghao scoffs, hands folding across his chest. "I thought you said I was that guy who pulled the sword from the stone."

The two of them laugh and Minghao tries to silence his giggle as much as possible, anxiety building in his stomach as time ticks on but also as he accidentally ends up flirting with the human God in front of him. He lets out a sigh as he watches Mingyu slide his phone out of his pocket.

"Should I get your number? So I can arrange to meet up with you? For the crown?" 

"Don't you usually just search people on _Facebook_ and message them there?"

A hum of discontent comes from Mingyu's lips and Minghao has to stop himself looking because he should not be admiring how pink they are. "I actually don't really use _Facebook_. I only have it for emergencies and when my friends want to tag me in stupid memes." 

Minghao stares at the boy, eyes sparkling. "Me too. I can't stand Soonyoung tagging me in ' _What Steve Buscemi are you today?_ ' posts."

"A little bit of three mixed with a lot of eight," Mingyu muses animatedly, hands moving around as he speaks and looks back down at his phone. Minghao takes it as his cue to retrieve his own, trading the two devices between them as they input names and numbers swiftly and return them.

It's then that Minghao realises their conversation is over too quickly for his liking and that he really has to get going. He locks the phone without looking at the screen and slides it back into his pants sadly.

"Look, I have to get going. My exam is in twenty minutes and I have to go, register, get seated and make sure my friends aren't too panicked."

Following the way Mingyu gestures for him to get going, Minghao smiles once more at him widely and genuinely before his feet become unstuck from the sidewalk and he begins pacing slowly away from him.

"Hey, Minghao?" He turns to look over his shoulder as he continues to walk, ignoring the wide-closed lipped smile on the boy's face. "Good luck!"

Minghao takes the feeling of his swelling heart all the way with him to the exam room, the lingering wave he had thrown at Mingyu still tingling on his fingers as he deposits his bag and notes at the side of the room and grabs the hoard of pens he had brought with him. The pen feels light in his hand and as the exam rules are read out, Minghao takes both Soonyoung and Mingyu's words and uses them as motivators and encouragement to do as best as he can.

 

* * *

 

"He _what?_ " Soonyoung cries as soon as he joins Minghao in the café after his own exam finishes an hour later, dropping his bag without a care in the world onto the hard tile floor. The chair takes the full force of Soonyoung's weight as he falls onto the seat and leans as far forward as he can, grinning at Minghao.

Clearing his throat, Minghao runs a hand through his hair and taps the screen of his phone as he finishes up the message to his mother he had previously been writing before his friend had arrived. Pressing send, he turns to look at Soonyoung and feels his ears turning red. 

"He gave me his number before the exam. When I bumped into him and he helped me pick up all my flashcards."

Soonyoung throws his head back and laughs, clapping his hands in pure unadulterated joy. "My friend, your life is like one of those cheesy romcoms. I cannot believe you actually got his number! I'm so proud of you!" 

"Hey," Minghao tries to stop him from embarrassing him too badly. "I told him to search me on Facebook but he said he hates it just as much as I do and so we swapped numbers instead." 

"Hates _Facebook?_ " Soonyoung frowns in offence at the statement, mouth open as if to gasp.

Nodding as he hums, Minghao tilts his head. "Not everyone sees the appeal of posting what you're having for dinner or watching at the cinema every hour of the day, in between crappy memes and pictures of other people's kids." 

"No, no. You're saying Mingyu hates _Facebook?_ " Another nod from Minghao prompts a scoff from Soonyoung. "No, he doesn't. He's the one that uses messenger the most—hell, I told you he practically blew up our class group chat when he was asking about you!"

"Your group chat was on messenger? I just assumed—"

"Oh my god, Minghao. He finessed you so good."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Before he knows it, Minghao finds himself head-locked under Soonyoung's arm as the boy coos and ruffles his already messy hair with his knuckles. His cries for his best friend to get off him prove unsuccessful and he slackens his body, eyes that were previously shut tightly, opening in surrender. He knows no matter how much he protests or tells Soonyoung that what he's saying is complete bullshit, his best friend will continue to tell him Mingyu was the smoothest operator he'd ever seen.

"I need to get some tips from him. Maybe when you two are dating and Mingyu becomes my new best friend by association—" 

"You're on drugs." Minghao chokes, pulling his head out from the space between the blue-haired boy's armpit and the crook of his elbow. He rubs his neck and then the top of his head with a wince. "There will be no dating. He just wants his shit back from the party!"

"Whatever you say, but when he starts texting you things not related to the party, you'll see." Soonyoung raises his eyebrows and smirks.

Minghao rolls his eyes and grabs his phone, standing up from the table. "Do you want a coffee?" 

Soonyoung offers up his order to him with thanks and Minghao sighs as he walks over to join the line of students who have either also just got out of a test, or are doing last minute cramming before one. He knows this because everyone either in front or behind him is donned in almost identical sweatpants and hoodies, and he can't help but laugh. He still has two exams this week, but with one off his chest, he feels a little of the pressure ease.

Stepping forward in line, the sound of the baristas making orders using the coffee machines, grinders, blenders amongst the chatter of the customers makes him feel at peace. It's calming and a lot more his speed when comparing the mass of people gathered in the café to the hoard that had crashed Mingyu's twenty-first birthday. The smell also brings warmth to him unlike the aroma of anywhere else on campus; the only thing he can think of that brings him a similar warmth is his mom's homemade meals. God, he misses eating as well as he does at home.

He nears the counter and upon placing his order, he feels the continuous buzz of his phone in his hand as he goes to unlock it to open the wallet app. Minghao freezes, hovering his thumb over the screen as he reads the words displayed there, the sound of the world around him suddenly drowning out with the ringing in his ears.

 

_KIM MINGYU_

( **10:17** ) Nice running into you again earlier. Literally.

( **10:17** ) When you're free from exams, let me know

( **10:18** ) Maybe then you won't have to leave so soon

 

"Sir? Cash or card?"

Minghao snaps out of his own thoughts with a blink and looks back up at the barista acting as cashier. Apologising he opens up the wallet app as intended and informs him of how he is paying, putting on a smile as the order goes through and he moves to the side.

He doesn't know how Soonyoung does it, but Minghao can't quite believe the boy when it comes to predictions concerning his phone. The disbelieving smile on his face won't disappear, even as he takes a second look at the messages before sliding the phone into his pocket. He's reading into it too much and he blames Soonyoung. The third message just means they've never been able to finish a conversation without him disappearing, and when he thinks about it, Mingyu is right - he'd run off at his birthday without a word and he'd had to cut their conversation short that morning in favour of him heading to his exam. And he'd never said sorry for either of those times.

As he says thank you to the barista that sets down his large hot chocolate and Soonyoung’s caramel macchiato, he brings the drinks back to the table and hands the cup to his friend. As he sits down he takes a sip and casually pulls up his messages with a small smile on his face.

“So, how do you think you did on your exam anyway?” Soonyoung asks after thanking him for the coffee.

Minghao raises his eyebrows in acknowledgement of the question, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth as he begins to type a reply.

 

_MINGHAO_

( **10:21** ) i finish on friday i’ll make sure to polish his majesty’s gold before returning it don’t worry. And thanks again

( **10:21** ) i'll see you then?

 

_KIM MINGYU_

( **10:22** ) I should hope so

 

He’s not sure if the boy’s reply is in response to his joke or the latter message, but Minghao smiles to himself and looks up at his friend. With his phone placed screen down on the table, he takes his own drink and sips on it slowly.

“I’m not so sure. Maybe not too well?”

A punch to his arm makes him splutter his drink a little and laugh in shock. 

“Ah, shut up, Hao. I’m sure you aced it.”

 

//

 

He’s not sure how he’s going to ace the rest of his tests that week when Minghao finds himself texting Mingyu until the early hours of the morning, laughing at the bright screen of his phone in the pitch black of his room. His books lie open on his desk and floor, pens with their caps off and highlighters drying out in favour of him responding to whatever ridiculous text Mingyu decides to send next.

He had never meant for it to get this bad so fast, the initial texts purely being a matter of urgency: Mingyu asking him to tell Soonyoung to respond to his messages about their class because he was either ignoring him or was busy doing other things. From there, Minghao couldn’t help himself responding to every request or question the boy sent, whether it was about how he was getting on with his studying or what television shows he had been watching recently. It was harmless, except for the fact Soonyoung was right and he was getting to know more about the boy he’d met less than a week ago than he had originally planned.

By Wednesday he knows that Mingyu has a little sister called Minseo, he is left-handed, he prefers dark chocolate to white, and his favorite color is red. On Thursday he finds out he longs for nothing more than to visit Latin America after graduation, and when he gets stressed he likes to clean and tidy his living space.

 

_MINGHAO_

( **22:56** ) so your room must be spotless this week then with exam stress

 

_KIM MINGYU_

( **22:56** ) Oh definitely. You’ve never seen a more spotless bedroom in your life

 

Minghao was lucky to find time in between their texting sessions and waking up late to do a bit of revision and sit the remainder of his exams, waking up for his last one until May on the morning of April 12th. He sets about his usual routine of showering, brushing his teeth, getting dressed and collecting his notes, pens and phone before setting out through the door. Only this time, he spots a text message that had been sent at six that morning and his chest fills with warmth as his stomach hurts.

 

_KIM MINGYU_

( **6:03** ) Last exam! Good luck today as always! What time are we meeting later? And where?

 

In amongst all that they had discussed that week, somehow the pair of them had managed to avoid the one subject they had initially traded numbers for. Minghao frowns at the screen, tapping his foot.

 

_MINGHAO_

( **8:12** ) shall I bring the stuff to yours around 2? then you dont have to worry about carrying it around with you

 

He waits a few minutes for a reply, but when he gets none he assumes it's because Mingyu has already gone back to sleep. Another fact he learned: Mingyu had finished all his exams on yesterday, and so waking up early was a voluntary decision. And the thought made Minghao's stomach somersault. He throws some water on his face and prepares himself for his final test, locking the door after him as he leaves the room and heads onto campus.

The exam lasts two hours and he's never been more relieved to stretch his arms and legs upon exiting the hall, clapping some of his classmates on the back, congratulating them for finishing as they exchange similar words with him. As he begins his walk back to his dorm, Minghao scrunches up his notes and flash cards and deposits them in the recycling bins on campus, almost skipping from happiness at the reality of a few weeks without exams. The pens he'd brought with him clatter in his pocket against his phone before he pulls out the device to switch it on and send a text to Soonyoung, Chan and Seungkwan. 

As soon as the company symbol disappears and his signal returns, he expects to see a text from Mingyu confirming whether what he had suggested was okay with him or not. But when the only notifications he receives are from Snapchat or his college email, he begins to worry that suggesting Mingyu's house, as a meeting place wasn't the greatest idea after all. He tries to push the thought out of his mind as he opens a new text and sends a message to his friends asking if they want to celebrate end of exams by going to see a movie that weekend.

The boys agree, occupying his walk back to his dorm room with emojis and confetti animation exploding across his screen.

 

_SOONYOUNG_

( **10:43** ) maybe u can invite mingu along ;)

( **10:43** ) *mingyu

( **10:43** ) ;))

 

_CHAN_

( **10:44** ) Mingyu?

 

_SOONYOUNG_

( **10:44** ) yea @ minghao

 

_SEUNGKWAN_

( **10:45** ) I heard he and the guys are throwing another frat party this wknd so it might not be possible

( **10:45** ) but why?

 

_SOONYOUNG_

( **10:45** ) mingyu would go if hao asked

 

_MINGHAO_

( **10:46** ) i'm giving him his shit back today. i might ask him

 

_SOONYOUNG_

( **10:46** ) OMG

 

_CHAN_

( **10:46** ) Oh my god it was Mingyu's stuff u stole?

 

_SOONYOUNG_

( **10:47** ) I LITERALLY TOLD U THAT!!!!

 

_SEUNGKWAN_

( **10:47** ) Soon told us that on monday wtf

 

_MINGHAO_

( **10:48** ) Yeah but i didn't steal it!

( **10:49** ) btw I still have your jacket from before seungkwan do u want that back?

( **10:49** ) the pink one

 

_SEUNGKWAN_

( **10:50** ) i was wondering where that had gone lol

 

The keys to his door fit into the hole with a click and Minghao empties his pockets immediately onto his desk after kicking off his shoes. He throws his phone to the side too and looks at the state his room is in, clothes, books, and other various items were strewn across his room. Now he had no exams as an excuse, Minghao knew he had to set about tidying and that the time between now and when he planned to set off for Mingyu's was the perfect time to do that. 

It takes him around an hour to sort out which books he wants to keep, which notes to chuck, and where to place everything in general before his room begins to look somewhat habitable again. His sheets are the last things he fixes, fluffing his pillow and duvet before he belly flops onto the mattress with a tired sigh. Minghao rolls his head to the right and stares at the only out of place objects left in his room: the crown and sceptre displayed front and centre in the middle of his desk, propped up by the open lid of his laptop. Upon realising he has to say goodbye to them very soon, he can't help but feel slightly melancholic regarding the memories surrounding them coming into his possession. He lets out a small, sad laugh, now wishing he could hold onto both or at least one of the two objects due to his unwarranted longing for the boy belonged to. 

Sitting up, Minghao stretches before he falls asleep for the majority of the day and decides to take another shower and throw his exam sweats in the wash bin. He'd put them in to be washed just before he set on out so that they were done by the time he returned to the dorm. After drying off, Minghao reaches into his wardrobe and takes out the brown shirt hanging there with a laugh, chucking it onto his bed to throw away because no matter how sentimental the shirt was, it was still the ugliest color he had ever seen.

He settles on jeans and a long black tee underneath a long-sleeved shirt, pulling them on whilst looking in the mirror. Minghao thinks this is the most decent he's looked in over three weeks, where he has been prioritising comfort over couture. He refuses to admit to himself that he wants to look nice in front of Mingyu at least once when he sees him, the two previous occasions being complete disasters in terms of his choice of outfit. Granted, he hadn't been expecting to meet any guys at a party he might sort of be interested in considering his initial plan to leave after a short while, and the second time was a complete coincidence also. But this time, at least, Minghao thinks he looks decent, running his long fingers through his hair.

Buzz.

The phone being on his desk means the notification vibration rings throughout the room noisily, and Minghao almost leaps towards it, swooping it up from where it charges. Except, the text he is expecting is not there, and instead the words displayed underneath Mingyu's contact cause him to frown in confusion.

 

_KIM MINGYU_

( **12:10** ) You're in Leonard Hall right?

( **12:10** ) I'm outside

 

Minghao mouths a 'what?' to himself, moving to the window to see if he can peer outside and see if he is telling the truth and is, in fact, in front of his halls of residence. He can't, but Minghao turns back to his phone and unlocks it, brows furrowed as he types.

 

_MINGHAO_

( **12:11** ) yeah? how do u know where i live?

_KIM MINGYU_

( **12:11** ) I promise I'm not a stalker. Soonyoung told me.

( **12:12** ) And I was already on campus so I thought I'd come grab my stuff rather than have you come all the way to mine.

 

_MINGHAO_

( **12:13** ) Ok. give me just one second.

 

Minghao drops his phone onto his bed sheets and wets his lips. _Why is my heart pounding so fast?_ He thinks, taking a deep breath with his eyes closed as he slips on his shoes and leaves his room unlocked to run downstairs and let his new friend in. The trip feels so long and as he leaves the stairwell and is in sightline of the entrance, he can see the outline of Mingyu's large, tall frame through the glass.

 _Compose yourself_ ; Minghao scolds himself as if he's telling off a four year old, pressing the buttons that unlock the door. He grasps the handle and opens it to Mingyu turning around, smiling when he faces him. Minghao is frozen for just a second as he wonders how the boy looks so good ever time he has seen him. He's dressed in a long brown coat, striped tee and jeans, but as he follows his arms down he spots the drinks perched in a cardboard cup holder in his right hand as he holds his phone in his left.

"Hey!" Mingyu exclaims, smile as vibrant as ever before he notices Minghao's confusion towards the takeaway cups he's balancing. "Uh, I didn't know what you liked so I got a hot chocolate and a regular latte. Preference?"

It takes a beat or two for Minghao's brain to work and for his tongue to stop metaphorically hanging out of his mouth like a cartoon character before he answers him. "Hot chocolate, thanks. I don't really like hot coffee. Only iced. But even then, Soonyoung usually drinks most of it." He shakes his head and steps aside. "Uh, come on in."

It's a haze from there until they're outside the door to his room, and Minghao can only vaguely remember him closing the door behind Mingyu, accepting the hot drink with sweaty hands, and quietly asking for the boy to follow him. He's sure they exchanged a few words on the way, but Minghao is so overwhelmed by the sudden visit that he cannot recall what they talk about for the life of him. He just hopes he doesn't appear completely stupid in front of the boy as he pushes open the door.

"Let me just grab your stuff, it's on my desk." He smiles nervously, the words coming out quieter than he expects, but he receives a nod in reply and so heads into his room. As he approaches his desk he can't help but thank his earlier self for using the time after he returned to clean, because having anyone see the state his room was in besides Soonyoung would have been mortifying, especially if that someone were the guy he'd been losing sleep over the past week. He looks over his shoulder, feeling slightly rude at the prospect of leaving Mingyu outside. "You can come in if you like, though I'm sure it's quite disappointing compared to your house from what I saw last week."

Minghao swaps his drink for the crown and sceptre with a heavy sigh and small smile, turning back around to see the boy admiring his quaint little single dorm. The way he nods as he takes in the coat rack and pictures on the wall, the shoes against the wall and the general layout of things is so endearingly cute that Minghao internally slaps himself. He almost feels bad for stopping the boy's snooping when he brandishes the objects and holds them out for him to take. 

"Here you go. Polished as promised, your highness." Minghao half bows jokingly, "And if you had told me a week ago who you were at the party I would never have stolen your crown and sceptre. In fact, I would've refused to wear them. But thank you for trusting me with them." 

Mingyu raises an eyebrow and cocks his head to the side with a smirk. "Well, I should actually be thanking you."

Minghao stares at him blankly, wondering what on Earth he means by that as he allows the objects to be lifted from his grasp. "For what?"

"For speaking to me at the party. It was the best part of my evening. I was kind of overwhelmed by the number of people that showed up - I never expected it to get that out of hand, as you can probably imagine. I think I initially invited maybe fifty people I knew from class, societies, my fraternity, and around, but I was told there was definitely at least one hundred and fifty people occupying the lawn and interior. So, you were a welcome distraction from the mess. The least I could do was lend you my crown for the evening."

Blushing furiously, Minghao has to force himself to turn away, using him picking up his drink as an excuse before he covers his cheeks with the paper cup. "You're welcome. I enjoyed chatting to you too and I felt like an absolute asshole for leaving without warning when you went to grab me another drink. It's just, I knew I wouldn't have left if you had come back." He swallows his words and quickly follows up with a flustered, "I had only planned to stay for a short while like I told you, and if I had another drink I would not have been able to get any work done." Not because I would have been drunk on the drink, no, not at all. Drunk on your intoxicating gaze? Maybe. God, he can't believe he just thought that even if it is the truth.

Mingyu nods, understanding perfectly, tearing his eyes from Minghao's to look at his hands. "Yeah, I wish you'd at least stayed for the cake."

"I was there for that, actually. That's when I found out your name."

"Ah," Mingyu smiles, leaning forward with his eyebrows raised. "And when they forced me to open my presents?"

Shaking his head, Minghao takes a sip of his hot chocolate and he can't help but think it's the best hot chocolate he's ever had. "No, I made my exit after the cake. The, uh, singing was like mosquito repellent."

"You're calling yourself a mosquito?"

Minghao has to pause a second to just listen to Mingyu's little chuckle which is like fuel to the burning fire in his heart. "In this case, yes."

He joins the boy in their short burst of laughter, clutching their drinks and faux monarchic items. It takes them a few minutes until they're stood in comfortable silence when the sound of Mingyu's phone breaks their gazes. Minghao sits down on his bed and places his drink on his bedside table, watching as Mingyu drops the stuff he's holding in favour of checking the phone he'd shoved in his pocket on the way up to his room. He watches as the boy rolls his eyes with an exhale of fake annoyance upon checking the message on his phone.

"I have to go. The guys are holding another party tonight back at the house so I'm on drink duty. You know, now that I'm actually twenty-one and everything."

Minghao gives him a thumbs up and a smile, processing what the boy has said. "Wait, your house is a fraternity?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"It all makes sense," Minghao nods, watching as Mingyu reclaims the items he momentarily dropped. "I just thought you were rich and owned your own place."

"God, no. I may have been a King for one night, but I do not have that kind of money. Though, a guy can wish." Another smirk and a tap of his foot signals to Minghao that Mingyu is ready to leave, though something in his usually twinkling brown eyes tells him that he actually wants to stay. Even so, the boy motions towards the door with his head, "I should get going. What do I press to leave?" 

Springing up a little too enthusiastically, Minghao rubs his sweaty hands on the material of his pants. "Right, yeah. Uh, you just go back down the corridor, down the stairs and then before you leave there's a big blue button on the left of the door that you press to exit."

Wishing he had said he'd accompany the boy downstairs, Minghao finds himself biting his tongue as Mingyu nods in acknowledgement of the instructions. Instead, he watches as the boy turns to open the door, only for him to pause as he stands in the doorway.

"I actually don't know what I'm going to do with these now that the party is over, but thanks again for getting them back to me."

"Like Cinderella with her shoe?" Minghao quips, immediately regretting the words as they left his mouth. He had not meant to say that out loud. “ _Not_ that I meant to imply you are a princess or that we are anything like the ending of the Cinderella tale, because that is crazy, or…” He facepalms to stop his incessant thoughts turning him red.

He can hear Mingyu chuckle, one that is definitely in baffled response to his comment and Minghao wishes the ground beneath him would swallow him up whole.

“I’m sorry.” He manages instead, his ears burning and his heart pounding in his chest because he was being an absolute bumbling idiot in front of one of the prettiest guys he had ever seen, and he had not been anywhere near this awkward at the party. But he’s here and Minghao doesn’t quite know what to do with himself now he's leaving again. He had genuinely thought that he would never see the guy again, so what he said before hadn’t mattered in the slightest, but now they had each other’s names, favorite colors, they had mutual friends, they had common interests, Mingyu knew where his dorm room was…

The taller of the two lets go of the door and waves his hands in front of him to dispel the awkwardness Minghao was feeling in the air, and Minghao can see as he reopens his eyes and lowers his hand that the boy’s smile has never once faltered.

“It’s cool. Nice royal reference.”

“Right.” Minghao breathes out, swallowing because his mouth is so dry right now and he doesn’t know what to do about it. “I’m sorry I didn’t get you a present.”

Minghao doesn't know why he says that because of course he didn't. A week ago he didn't even know who Mingyu was. What would he have given him? Now, a week later, he might possibly consider getting him a toy for the dog he knows he has back at his parents, or even a camera, or one of his favorite books bound all prettily. Or even the promise to kiss him senseless as both a gift an apology.

“Don’t worry, as I said, I had a great birthday and meeting you was actually a big factor in that, so thanks. And Soonyoung gave me enough of a present for the both of you, don’t worry about it."

The pair of them stand silently once more and Minghao wants to find something, anything, to say to him; whether it’s telling him he has nice eyes or the most beautiful smile and giggle that he’s ever heard, he doesn’t care, he just wants to say something. God, he was so pathetic. What is he, fourteen? He asks himself as he builds up the courage to say good-bye once more.

Silence.

Twenty seconds pass but they are the longest twenty seconds of his life before Mingyu finally looks like maybe he really should go. There’s a twinkle in his eye like the one Minghao remembers from the party that vanishes as he mumbles a parting word and begins his slow walk away from his room.

Minghao isn’t sure what comes over him because it is not like him to be spontaneous. He’s careful and calculated, he plans his studying weeks in advance so he knows what topics he's going over on what days so he can get it all done before exams. He plans all their group outings from where they are visiting down to when and where they'll have dinner in the evening. But for once he thinks, fuck it. This is worth the risk. His heart is beating so hard he can hardly hear his logic over the blood pounding in his ears, so there’s no voice in his head to talk him out of it as Minghao calls out after the taller boy who is halfway down the corridor by now. 

His feet move in a light jog towards Mingyu, and as the boy turns around he raises his eyebrows. He looks so lost, like a puppy that’s being told to sit but not knowing what the command means. Minghao thinks he’s adorable. Stopping right in front of him, he sucks in a deep breath before leaning upwards, hands grasping the boy’s cheeks as he places a soft kiss on his lips.

Minghao feels Mingyu tense briefly before relaxing against his body, and he squeezes his eyes shut as his heart dances in his chest. One hand curls around the back of the taller boy's head, tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck as their lips are pressed lightly together.

They don’t kiss for long, it's fleeting and ephemeral, and Minghao pulls away with the faintest trace of the tingle of Mingyu’s lips still on his own. He knows it was probably a stupid move, they were still almost strangers, but in the short time he's known Mingyu, Minghao feels like he can trust him with his life, and apparently, his heart.

As his eyes flutter open, the face he hopes to see on Mingyu isn't exactly there. Instead of pure unadulterated bliss, he observes Mingyu standing with his eyes wide open, blinking, and his mouth slightly parted in surprise. He releases his face, hands falling back to his sides as he takes the smallest step away, praying silently that he hasn't made a bad decision.

"Happy belated twenty-first." He chews his bottom lip, dragging his foot on the floor, embarrassed. He knows his ears are red, and he wants Mingyu to speak but he's also frightened. "It's not much of a present but—"

Before he can finish his sentence, Mingyu's lightly dropping what he's holding on the floor and leaning back into him to stop him speaking with another kiss. This time as their lips connect, Minghao feels Mingyu breathe out a happy breath through his nose, warming his cheek more than it already is. They are pressed flush up against each other when the boy decides to look his arm around Minghao's waist and pull him closer, and there's no more 'light' and 'soft' in the world. Everything is brilliant and blinding and he hopes his heartbeat can't be felt through his chest because it will give away just how flustered he really is at that moment. 

Mingyu's lips are plump and slot perfectly against his own, and the boy fans the flames growing in his stomach. Even as they pull away, Mingyu using the moment to rest his forehead against Minghao's, his stomach keeps flipping and the blood pounding in his ears fails to cease. _It must be my birthday,_ Minghao thinks with a small chuckle to himself, immediately covering his mouth with his hand when he realises Mingyu can't hear his thoughts to understand the cause of his laughter. Only, the brief moment of cried joy is enough to paint the widest smile yet across Mingyu's face, canines on full view and up this close, Minghao notices for the first time the smallest mole dotted on the end of his nose.

“I—Oh, god.” Minghao stares into Mingyu’s eyes, turning them from a look of pure happiness to one with a hint of worry. “You don’t have a partner, do you? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? I should’ve asked—I just didn’t know how to break it into a conversation, and, God, I thought you’d be freaked out but now I realise I should’ve—”

“Minghao,” Mingyu calms him, taking his hands in his own and Minghao can’t help but stare at their fingers interlocked so naturally. The boy’s small chuckle draws him back in. “Do you really think I would’ve kissed you if I was dating someone?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” He shrugs, screwing his face up in embarrassment at his words. His brain is functioning at a rate he can’t quite keep up with at this current moment, so whatever is coming out of his mouth is not thought through at all, and he knows the risks of that.

Another hush, Mingyu runs his thumb over the back of his hand before letting Minghao pull his hands back to his sides. His patience levels him out, and he takes another deep breath to try and return back to normal. “I’m not dating anyone, just so you know. It’s fine. More than fine.

“I’m sorry, I’m not normally this bumbling, blushing fool.” He grins, rubbing the back of his neck.

Mingyu tilts his head to the side, hair falling slightly in his eyes so he has to move it to the side with his fingers. “I know.”

Squatting down, Minghao picks up the selection of drinks and dressing up items before standing to hand them back over to the boy. Their hands brush, touch lingering, and the two immediately find themselves bursting out into laughter, leaning on each other comfortably.

“You may not have won best costume, but you certainly win best present,” Mingyu says through his fit of giggles, smile and gaze fond.

Minghao opens his mouth and frowns, “I thought you liked my costume. You said it was unique!”

“I might have been lying to get you to stay. The costume was ugly, but you were beautiful.”

He can see Mingyu leaning towards him and Minghao decides to turn his head just as Mingyu’s lips are inches from his own. He folds his arms in faux annoyance. “I knew it!” 

“What? I didn’t want to scare you off. And I wasn’t lying. It was original.”

He can’t stop the laughter that follows, hitting the boy playfully as Mingyu presses a kiss to his cheek. “Do you know how much it cost me?”

“A dollar at most.” 

“You’re such an asshole.”

With a shrug, Mingyu pulls back, taking a step away from him. “But it worked.”

Minghao’s heart stops in his chest with the wink Mingyu sends him, and it’s like time is completely forgotten. Whereas before the boy had been in a hurry to get back to his fraternity brothers, now it feels like the rest of the world can wait for them as Mingyu promises to call him later as he walks away backwards.

He wishes he could stop smiling like an idiot, but the words repeat in his head over and over. Mingyu was smooth, Soonyoung had been right once again. He doesn’t know how his friend does it, but he’s never wrong when it comes to his love life. He’d warned him about his crushes before, and he’d explained to him clearly the moves that had been on used on him by Mingyu to win both his number and his attention. And he couldn’t deny it.

“Yeah. I guess it did.”

**Author's Note:**

> soonyoung is now psyched that minghao will go to every single party that mingyu hosts. in his eyes that’s the biggest and best outcome of this whole new relationship. second best is minghao’s happiness. but first is parties, always.
> 
> i hope this was somewhat enjoyable, and if it was then feel free to leave a kudos and a comment, or come talk to me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/TARANTlSM)
> 
> all my love ♡
> 
> listen to the [when the clock strikes midnight playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/aeymbooycz2ob7ky7sdqda4h3/playlist/7meyM2hXQFsS8BUPCum29k?si=gEmkKxe8QEex7WgKZnRs2Q) on spotify.


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